Mrs. Perveen Tawwab (Sitara-e-Imtiaz)

Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo once said that leadership is hard to define, and good leadership even harder, but if you can get people to follow you to the end of the earth, you are a great leader. I have one such leader in my life who has changed countless lives and continues to inspire many more. Her name is Mrs. Perveen Tawwab.

Mrs. Perveen Tawwab (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) is a personification of passion, patience and perseverance. She is the founder and president of Rising Sun Education & Welfare Society. It is a non profit organization working for empowerment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities since 1984. It is one of the very few NGOs in Pakistan providing comprehensive lifelong support and services to persons with disabilities. This organization is recognized by national and international organizations for its high quality services and innovative projects.

Mrs. Perveen Tawwab was a mother of four healthy and smart kids. Her husband was a child specialist and when they were living in Libya her husband got the opportunity to establish a hospital based rehabilitation center for persons with disabilities. He remained the founding director of that center for four years. She always watched her husband serve children with intellectual impairment in Libya but little did she know that in future she will become captain of such team in Pakistan.

In 1984 tears of a desperate mother of little girl with downs syndrome motivated her and she started a day school from dining room of her house as a volunteer. Her motivation and dedication remains the same rather it has multiplied over the course of 40 years. She daily touches many special souls and instigates positivity and hope in their lives.

If you get an opportunity to visit one of the institutes run by Rising Sun you will find yourself among smiling and satisfied pure souls. This beautiful world of care and love has been carefully crafted by a mother whom they all call “Aunty”. Mrs. Perveen Tawwab (Aunty) has been the moving force behind this closely knitted yet highly professional organization. A team of more than three hundred professionals works tirelessly to ensure that every special child gets to develop to his/her full potential.

W. H. Davies wrote in his poem leisure that we are so busy in hustle and bustle of life that we have no time to stand and stare, and appreciate the little things of beauty. Believe me, at Rising Sun they have the bliss of enjoying and celebrating every single moment of joy and success. Every small step of differently abled students is recognized and appreciated because taking one independent step will eventually lead to walking, similarly eating first independent bite of food is a stepping stone toward self-dependence.

These small wonders culminate into passionate and inspiring success stories just like Faraz bin Zafar, a boy with Downs syndrome, who is working at ECS now. There is Umer Javed, a young man with cerebral palsy who very proudly leads the patients to relevant departments as patient guide at Shaukat Khanum Cancer hospital. Another inspiring student of Rising Sun, Usman comes from a family where two of his siblings also have intellectual disability but he made his disability a power and now serves at Packages Mall. There is a long list of successful transitions of differently abled persons, made possible only because of the transformative leadership of Mrs. Perveen Tawwab.

She might not have studied leadership in any business school but she is a great example of transformative and positive leadership. Through a personal and individualized connection she always makes every member of Rising Sun family feel special and valued. This individualized insight enables her to channelize special talents of every member of team and inculcate a shared vision. From a dining room she has lead this organization to the present heights where it is among the few largest not for profit organizations working for empowerment of persons with disabilities.

According to Ginux market data report 2024, only 29% women globally held senior management positions and only 5% CEOs of fortune 500 companies were females. In such situation where we observe a stark gap in leadership based on gender, it becomes essential that women lead initiatives and organizations in our part of the world are introduced more strongly.

Great women leaders like Mrs. Perveen Tawwab have grit and grace to face hurdles and keep their head high in difficult times. Candice Carpenter Olson, the Co-CEO of Fullbridge spelled out this reality in very compelling way. She said; “If you are committed to creating value and if you aren’t afraid of hard times; obstacles become utterly unimportant. The world respects creation; people will get out of your way.”

If you go to Rising Sun Institute for special children in Lahore you will see a graceful lady surrounded by children with special need who just want a pat at the back as a reassurance that their lives matter and they can make a difference. This calm and powerful lady is their aunty, a symbol of hope and bright future for them. She is an epitome of women leadership and personification of unwavering faith in the Creator.

There comes a point in life when worldly awards and recognitions become mere labels. In fact I believe that sometimes the awards become prestigious when associated with such great people. Govt. of Pakistan awarded Mrs. Perveen Tawwab with Sitara-e-Imtiaz in recognition of her lifelong, selfless, volunteer services. She does appreciate this recognition by the government, but to her the biggest trophies of her life are the confident, satisfied and successful children with special needs who are the center of her life.

In the end I would like to quote Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand, because it is often wrongfully assumed that empathy and successful leadership are two different things. Mrs. Perveen Tawwab and Jecinda both have proved it wrong. “One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough because I’m empathetic. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.”